Le Top Chef Series: Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

This delicious snack/dessert helps ease us from those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer into the chill of an early fall. Change out some of the butter with applesauce for a slightly healthier cupcake that still tastes great!

Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.